A recently published marketing study titled "Myth of the Mansumer" might have you thinking the marketing gap between men and women is narrowing. But we're not sure their statistics (while interesting when taken in isolation) are all that conclusive.

If you're a marketer who is looking at how to create more web traffic; or how to create more consumer engagement; or how multi-channel marketing can increase your ROI, it's well worth an in-depth read.

But for now, here are some top-line highlights - these are metrics you may not be receiving from your traditional media planner.

Data, big or small, is generally not absolute. It requires interpretation, extrapolation (and sometimes inspiration) to create what marketing people refer to as "insights". And from there, those insights need to be tested in a real world context to see if they are indeed the answer to your marketing prayers.

We've been helping Freedom produce sales-boosting, award-winning catalogues and content for over 30 years. While it is probably way too early to pronounce the demise of the printed catalogue per se*, online catalogues have certainly become an increasingly significant part of the catalogue landscape.

For those wanting to target the higher net worth consumer, a study released in September last year is worthy of note.The Ipsos Affluent Survey USA shows that the well-off continue to be enthusiastic consumers of traditional media, notwithstanding a small decline of 2% over the previous 12 months.